US Financial Markets show stability in eve of Healthcare vote

Financial markets in the United States exhibited stability during early trading hours of March 23. This continued as investors received reports that the replacement bill for Obamacare has a better chance of being passed by House of Representatives. This will be done by dropping the minimum benefits set which health insurers must provide to their customers.

Freedom caucus

The reports sent out by the Freedom Caucus, a conservative body in the House, suggests that this particular issue can be regarded as a concern. This is why it gets the blame as the principal reason behind the massive insurance costs. The GOP, in essence, has made the offer to eliminate all vital health benefits. Such news will make the opposition happy. This will result in the dismantling of opposing the passage of healthcare reform bill by the House Republicans. The result is that bill acquire all the required votes for passage.

It is believed that the White House will provide last moment changes to the Trump administration crafted plan.

Gold and oil

Gold futures went up to three week highs on March 22. This happened due to the uncertain economic policies undertaken by the Trump administration. The paucity of details concerning economic policy from President Trump's advisors has assisted to increase the attraction of gold as safe-haven investment.

The action on price clearly shows that gold has acquired robust support as a kind of safe-haven investment. At a time when investors in equity had taken their money due to near zero progress in the legislative agenda of the Trump administration, the money is moving to the safety of the gold market. Gold is up by nearly $50 from its March 15 lows. This corresponds with the decision of the Fed to incrementally increase the rate hikes by almost three times within 2017.

Prices of oil continued to drop on March 22. It hit a trough of four months. This happened as fresh data revealed the rise of US stockpiles to be quicker than previously anticipated. As per the United States Energy Information Administration or EIA, American inventories rose by nearly five million barrels to touch 533.1 million on the week ending date March 20. This is much higher than the anticipated increase of 2.8 million barrels. The big inventory was made bigger by a rise in the American oil production. Imports from Canada also added to the huge reserves.

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